By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer

Searching for its killer instinct in the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, third-ranked University of Hawai‘i settled for much less last night in a 15-5, 15-6, 15-8 victory over Davidson.

UH's Jessica Sudduth reaches for a block against Davidson during last night's first-round match. The Honolulu Advertiser

For the Wahine (28-1), satisfaction came in victory, and resulting advancement to a second-round sequel tonight at 7 against Utah (23-7), but little else. They were impatient and inefficient, against a team clearly inferior and just as clearly having the time of its life.

Hawai‘i was definitely not.

"It was not a good effort by us," UH coach Dave Shoji admitted. "Emotionally, we probably weren’t where we needed to be to play really good tonight. But I’d rather us be emotionally high tomorrow instead of tonight. I think we’ll play much better.

"We will play better tomorrow night. There’s no doubt about it."

Shoji was just that adamant — and extremely animated — after he called timeout with his team down 6-3 in the second game last night. The Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,601 was wondering what had happened to a team that looked invincible last time it was home.

"I was hot because we were not performing," Shoji said. "We weren’t getting our feet set on defense, we were making unforced errors, we weren’t going for the ball defensively and our hitters were not hitting smart shots. We couldn’t put the ball down for a while."

Even in a one-sided first game, Davidson, the Southern Conference champion in its second NCAA appearance, had it moments. Jennifer Carey’s early six-point service run was decisive, but in a preview of frustration to come, Hawai‘i struggled to close the Wildcats (24-12) out.

As Davidson — No. 3 in digs nationally and probably the shortest team UH has played this year — kicked its defense into gear, the Wahine began to lose their rhythm. By the time Veronica Lima served the final three points of the game — the last two coming on stuffs — the Wildcats were no longer intimidated.

"The way we answered them almost shocked us sometimes," said two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year Mara Mordini, who had a dozen kills. "It was like, ‘Hey, we’re right back in this and we’re here to stay.’"

By the time the match ended, with Davidson coach Tami Darwin waving a gracious goodbye as the crowd gave her team a standing ovation, it was obvious that while the Wahine will still play this year, the Wildcats were having a whole lot more fun last night.

"They (the Wahine) are almost a melancholy team, very even-keel," Mordini said. "The looks on some of their faces tonight were very nervous.

"We’re a very emotional team; that happens to be one of our strongest characteristics. It’s hard not to get excited when you’re coming to a place like this and playing Hawai‘i in front of so many fans. It’s unbelievable. Such a change from Davidson. This blows out our student population by about eight times."

Hawai‘i played without all-conference freshman Maja Gustin, the country’s fifth-best blocker, for the second straight match. She practiced yesterday and her sprained ankle might be well enough for her to play tonight.

Freshman Kim Willoughby (11 kills, .308) was Hawai‘i’s most effective hitter aside from Carey, who went 7-for-7, with seven blocks, from her setting position.